Agenda Report
Fullerton Transportation and Circulation Commission
MEETING DATE: JANUARY 22, 2024
TO: TRANSPORTATION & CIRCULATION COMMISSION
SUBMITTED BY: PUBLIC WORKS/TRAFFIC ENGINEERING DIVISION PREPARED BY: DAVID ROSEMAN, CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEER
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEER’S RECOMMENDATION TO INSTALL TRAFFIC SIGNAL IMPROVEMENTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF LEMON STREET AND VALENCIA DRIVE
SUMMARY
Consideration of the City Traffic Engineer’s recommendation to install a northbound protected-permissive left-turn arrow, an eastbound right-turn arrow, and safety lighting improvements at the intersection of Lemon Street and Valencia Drive.
RECOMMENDATION
It is requested that the Commission take the following actions:
Concur with the City Traffic Engineer’s recommendation to modify the traffic signal at Lemon Street and Valencia to add a northbound protected-permissive left-turn arrow, an eastbound right-turn arrow, and additional safety lights as measures to improve traffic safety and operational efficiency within the school zone for Maple Elementary.
Recommend to City Council that traffic signal improvements for the Lemon Street and Valencia Drive intersection, as recommended by the City Traffic Engineer, be approved and funded as a part of the City’s 2024-25 Capital Improvement Program.
DISCUSSION
Lemon Street is a 64-foot wide north/south arterial street with two through lanes and left-turn pockets at key intersections. Some on-street parking is allowed; however, the majority of the roadway is posted with signs prohibiting parking. Daily traffic volumes on Lemon Street have varied over the years from a high of 32,000 to a low of 27,000 vehicles on any given day. This variability in traffic volumes is influenced by downtown and school activity north of Commonwealth Avenue and retail activity in the vicinity of Orangethorpe Avenue to the south. Additionally, since Lemon Street has direct access to and from the CA-91 freeway, some motorists use Lemon Street as an alternative to Harbor Boulevard during periods of congestion on that street. The traffic signal at Valencia Drive, as shown in Exhibit “A” (Attachment 1), is the only traffic control device on Lemon Street between Commonwealth Avenue and Orangethorpe Avenue, a distance of three quarters of a mile. There is also an undercrossing of the train tracks approximately 900 feet to the north of Valencia Drive and a pedestrian bridge over the roadway 650 feet to the south. The long distances between signalized intersections, the lack of on-street parking, and the presence of the grade separated structures contribute to the street’s car-centric character, potentially leading to more aggressive driver behavior and faster vehicle speeds. Lemon Street has an eighty-fifth percentile speed of almost 45mph south of Valencia Drive and over 40mph north of Valencia Drive. On-street parking on Lemon Street, in close proximity to the intersection, is prohibited.
Valencia Drive is a 40-foot wide east/west residential collector street with one lane of traffic in each direction and on-street parking. Valencia Drive serves as the only signalized street providing resident access to Lemon Street from the neighborhoods immediately east and west of Lemon Street, see Exhibit “B” (Attachment 2). Daily traffic volumes on Valencia Drive range between over 3,500 vehicles a day west of Lemon Street and over 5,000 vehicles a day east of Lemon Street. The prima facie speed limit on Valencia Drive is 25 miles per hour.
Over the years both residents of the area and the Fullerton School District have expressed safety concerns with the Lemon Street and Valencia Drive intersection, citing aggressive motorist behavior, elevated traffic speeds, crash rates, and school zone congestion. In response, City traffic engineers conducted safety studies, implemented minor striping improvements, installed speed feedback signs, upgraded school zone signage, modified traffic signal timing, trimmed landscaping, and removed on-street parking. In addition, an adult crossing guard is stationed at the Lemon Street and Valencia Drive intersection during the arrival and dismissal periods of Maple Elementary to assist students and residents in crossing at the intersection. Despite these efforts, residents continue to believe that more needs to be done to improve the safety and walkability of the intersection. Many have expressed their desire for a northbound left-turn arrow at the traffic signal to improve safety and circulation in the school zone. In response the City Traffic Engineer agreed to conduct a thorough review of the intersection and traffic signal operation to determine if modifications to the operation are needed.
The California Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CAMUTCD) provides traffic engineers with guidance in the conduct of studies to determine if left-turn arrows are needed at a signalized intersection. A summary of the CAMUTCD study criteria and results are as follows:
A history of five or more collisions for a particular left turn movement during a recent 12-month period.
The crash experience criteria as stated above isn’t without controversy in the court of public opinion. The requirement to have five crashes per year before a change is made is generally not well received by a public that feels that government should do everything possible to prevent serious crashes. In the case of the Lemon Street and Valencia Drive intersection, the number of crashes per year does not rise to the level that satisfies the CAMUTCD guidance. However, in the past twelve months there were a total of three crashes, all resulting in injury, and two of those three could possibly have been prevented if a left-turn arrow had been in place. Additionally, it is notable that in the past five years, two pedestrians were struck by vehicles while crossing at the intersection.
A pattern of left-turn delays of one or more vehicles, which were waiting at the beginning of the green interval and are still remaining in the left turn lane after at least 80% of the total number of cycles for one hour.
This condition was not met since most left-turning vehicles clear within the signal cycle they arrive. Staff is of the opinion that sufficient gaps in traffic flow on Lemon to allow vehicles to safely complete their left turns within a single cycle even during periods of peak traffic.
A minimum of 50 left turning vehicles per hour in one direction with the product of the turning movement and conflicting through traffic movement is 100,000 or more.
The study revealed that in a 24-hour period there were twelve hours where a minimum of 50 cars made the northbound left-turn movement. Additionally, during those twelve hours, there were five hours where the left-turn vs. conflicting thru traffic product exceeded 100,000, satisfying this part of the guidelines.
Additional factors that might be considered include, but are not limited to, impaired sight distance due to horizontal or vertical curvature, or where there are a large percentage of buses or trucks.
Lemon Street is not a designated truck route; however, more than 27,000 vehicles travel this segment of Lemon Street each day with a significant percentage of those vehicles being delivery trucks and transit buses, as Lemon Street provides direct access to both the shopping center to the south and the Fullerton Transportation Center to the north. As to sight distance, there technically is sufficient sight distance when making a left-turn in either the northbound or southbound directions based on the posted speed limit; however, drivers regularly exceed the speed limit in this stretch of road. Additionally, the road drops in elevation to go under the train tracks to the north of the intersection limiting northbound motorists’ visibility of oncoming traffic. Therefore, it can be challenging for a motorist making a northbound left-turn to accurately judge when is the right time to negotiate his or her turning movement when a southbound motorist is significantly exceeding the speed limit.
In addition to the CAMUTCD guidelines noted above, traffic engineers are encouraged to look beyond the vehicle statistics to consider other factors that could improve safety and efficiency. One of those other factors is the presence of Maple Elementary on the southwest corner of the intersection and the fact that the intersection provides the only controlled crossing for pedestrians within a three quarters of a mile of stretch of a high speed arterial. Traffic counts conducted revealed that a total of 527 pedestrians and 103 cyclists utilized the crosswalks during the school arrival and dismissal periods. It is anticipated that total daily crossings at the intersection are likely double those counted during the school periods. The brisk pedestrian and cyclist activity at the intersection is another conflict that motorists must be attentive to in deciding when to make their turn movements.
Another factor to consider is that during the school arrival and departure times it is difficult to make an eastbound right turn since right turns are prohibited on the red interval and during the green interval the crossing guard typically uses up most of the available green time crossing students in the south leg crosswalk. The result is that traffic on Valencia Drive is backed up in front of the school just waiting for an opportunity to turn right. If a northbound left-turn arrow was to be installed, that provides the opportunity to introduce an eastbound right-turn arrow that could be simultaneously activated with the left-turn arrow to flush out eastbound right-turn traffic from in front of the school, thus significantly improving efficiency of the traffic signal operation.
Another important factor to consider is intersection safety lighting. Currently, the intersection has only two safety lights, one over the north leg crosswalk and the other over the south leg crosswalk. Typically, busy arterial intersections have four safety lights, one over each crosswalk. The four safety lights serve to illuminate not only each of the crosswalks but to uniformly illuminate the intersection conflict areas. Therefore, increasing the number of safety lights would be a safety enhancement for the intersection, not only at night but during periods of low visibility such as fog and rain.
Therefore, in conclusion, it is the recommendation of the City Traffic Engineer that the traffic signal at the intersection of Lemon Street and Valencia Drive be modified to include a northbound protected-permissive left-turn arrow, an associated eastbound right-turn arrow, and additional safety lighting. These improvements should significantly reduce the risk of collisions, improve the walkability of the intersection for students and residents, and substantially improve traffic circulation for Maple Elementary School.
The implementation of the recommended traffic signal modifications will require the installation of new poles, signal equipment, lighting, and wiring. The design and construction of the improvements are likely to likely to cost approximately $175,000 and take two years to complete. Therefore, it is recommended that the project be recommended to City Council for inclusion in the FY 2024-25 Capital Improvement Program.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Exhibit “A” Intersection Detail
Attachment 2 - Exhibit “B” Vicinity Map
Consideration Traffic Signal Improvements at Lemon Street and Valencia Drive January 22, 2024 - Page PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 2